I recently watched a special on ESPN about Cleveland High School wrestlers Leroy Sutton and Dartanyon Crockett. Leroy is an amputee and Dartanyon is legally blind.  They both have conquered enormous obstacles, because of their “never give up” attitude. Dartanyon carries his friend Leroy on and off the bus, through every gymnasium, and onto every wrestling mat. They are training partners that push each other both physically and mentally. One is the other’s eyes and the other his legs.

With tears in my eyes, I realized how much I take for granted. Many times we make unnecessary excuses for why we can’t do things. I’ve always despised failure.  Oftentimes, we choose to not do something for the fear of messing up, but that is the only real failure.  Quitting is not an option! Either keep going or start over. Like the cliché, “Practice makes perfect.”

This is the time of year where those New Year’s resolutions start becoming very challenging. We all must realize that set backs aren’t failures. It may take longer than initially to reach our goals, but the important part is getting there, that’s why setting short-term goals is so important. It takes awhile to lose the 50 lbs, but with motivation it’s worth every drip of sweat.  A good short-term goal could be instead of eating out seven times this week, you could only eat out twice.

I encourage everyone to get an accountability partner. It’s very easy at the end of the day to find a million other things you could be doing besides jumping on a treadmill. To have someone to call and asked if they want to hit the gym or share their fitness frustrations with, is a great motivational tool. It makes the time pass by faster, when you have someone you can relate to. Just take these two friends, Leroy and Dartanyon, as an example.

                                                                                    -Melissa Kramer, CPT

Below is a link to watch this special story:

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/otl/news/story?id=4371874